


It Was You I Thought Of On Lonely Nights

by ThereIsNoTragedyInThat



Series: A Thousand Futures of Me and You [226]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Boys In Love, Breaking Up & Making Up, Don't copy to another site, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Insecure Stephen Strange, Iron Man 1, M/M, Misunderstandings, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:02:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23726521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThereIsNoTragedyInThat/pseuds/ThereIsNoTragedyInThat
Summary: It had been two weeks since Tony Stark had been found alive in Afghanistan, and he was only calling Stephen now.
Relationships: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Series: A Thousand Futures of Me and You [226]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1118655
Comments: 23
Kudos: 195





	It Was You I Thought Of On Lonely Nights

Stephen blew a heavy sigh, hand running down his face as he tried to banish the exhaustion weighing his entire body down. It had been a long night, having been on call for the past twelve hours and completing a five-hour surgery the day before. Now, all he wanted was to go home and fall into bed, his _painfully_ empty bed. Stephen moved to fish out his keys only to be distracted by his buzzing phone. Grimacing, he had every intention of declining the call, until he saw the name that lit up his screen.

Tony Stark. That bastard.

His contempt did nothing to stop the way his heart stuttered. It had been two weeks since Tony Stark was found alive after being held captive in Afghanistan, two week since Stephen felt like he could breathe again, two weeks since he realized he mattered less to the man then he had thought. Stephen supposed he’d been stupid about it from the start, they’d been little more then friends with benefits.

His phone stopped buzzing and Stephen realized he’d been staring dumbly at his phone the entire time. It seemed as though fate had taken the reins for him and Stephen was ready to pretend Tony had never called when the screen lit up yet again. This time his heart didn’t stutter, this time he found his hand clenching around it as he abruptly hit answer.

“This better not be a fucking booty call Stark,” Stephen growled.

There was a low chuckle and contented sigh from the other end, “God I missed your voice Stephen.”

The sound of his voice was light and day to the innumerable press conferences he’d been giving since his return, here it was infused with a familiar warmth and intimacy. His anger proved to be no shield against that sound and Stephen found himself leaning against the wall by the door to hold himself steady. He ignored the odd looks from passing nurses and doctors, his attention completely on Tony.

“Stephen?”

“Tony,” he murmured. “Why are you calling?”

“Because I missed you and the last time I saw you was before my life went to shit and I spent half my time in that cave thinking about you and why we never tried to seriously make it work and now I’m here and I keep wondering why you haven’t shown up yet and I’m tired of waiting.”

His words were hardly coherent, spoken quickly like he was afraid Stephen would hang up at any second and really, he should because Stephen was exhausted and surely hallucinating if the moisture in his eyes was any indication. But he didn’t because if there was one thing he knew about Tony Stark after all this time, it was that his very being was an addiction.

Yet doubt continued to claw at Stephen, and he found himself speaking, words harsher than he meant them to be and just so tired, of the worry and the fear and the loneliness, “you can’t mean that Tony. You could hardly look me in the eye and say you liked me before you were kidnapped, I don’t see how that would change things.”

“Stephen,” Tony’s voice was soft and needy, continuing like he hadn’t said anything at all. “Tell me you missed me.”

Heart thumping because he knew that tone so well, had fallen prey to its allure far too many times to be healthy ever since the first night at a gala that seemed like three lifetimes ago now. Licking his lips, Stephen let himself close his eyes, head tilting back against the hard wall, “I’m glad you’re alright.”

It was true, even if alright just meant alive. Stephen had seen the damage to Tony’s chest, had heard people speculating about it and how he’d managed to save himself using rusty tools and his wits. A modern-day tale of bravery and perseverance…Stephen cringed every time and turned off the television the second it started.

“Stephen, please.”

Pleading, Stephen always hated that. Especially because in this case it was true. The first two days after Tony had been announced missing, he’d been almost frantic. Searching the internet for news and constantly checking his phone between patients, he’d been insufferable and eventually, after another sleepless night, Christine had showed up, sat him down and made him face the reality, for better or worse, that Tony might not come back.

He had though. And he hadn’t called.

“Tony, you didn’t call.”

A heavy sigh, “I was…busy.”

Stephen chuckled weakly, wished he was at home where he could curl up on the sofa to have this conversation instead of a stark white hallway, “yeah, I noticed. Changing the entire direction of the company surprised me.”

“Yes,” Tony’s voice became infused with energy again, a new passion making itself known. “I have so much to make up for. I was…stupid I guess, didn’t really think about where everything I did would bring me, what it would do to other people. Stephen, I have so many plans…you have no idea.”

“I’m happy for you,” Stephen murmured and was surprised to find it was true.

There was a long pause then Tony was whispering like he couldn’t help himself now that Stephen had lowered his voice, “I did it for you too.”

“What?”

“You always hated what I did with the weapons. I did listen during those lectures you gave me; I just didn’t care. Now…well now a lot of things are different and-”

“Tony,” Stephen cut him off, hand holding his phone trembling just a little. “I missed you. I really, really missed you.”

A laugh, deep and happy sounded against his ear and Stephen found himself grinning, tears slowly winding their way down his cheeks, “Dinner? Please say yes. Tonight, right now. I’ll pick you up.”

Too fast. Too much. There was every chance in the world that Tony was desperate for a lay and didn’t want to fuck some random person who’d go back to the tabloids and tell them he hadn’t really changed, that he was still the same old Tony Stark. He shouldn’t risk his heart so quickly so soon.

Yet.

Stephen didn’t really think that. Didn’t believe Tony would ever be so cruel as to prey on his insecurities and play at emotions they both kept hidden for so long. Which meant…which meant somehow this was all real. Exhaustion forgotten on the thrill of exhilaration he hadn’t felt since he was a teenager stumbling into something like love, Stephen found himself saying again and again, “yes, yes, yes.”

**Author's Note:**

> Been awhile since I wrote Ironstrange from my own head and without a prompt so here ya go, hope you enjoy!


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